Patchwork
by loboselina
Summary: Robin was tasked by his father, Francis, to kill the Dark Queen Ruth and Prince David, instead he found himself falling in love with Princess Regina and the prince who quickly became his son. Aware his plans were all about to fail Francis decided to try to gain power again, this time in a new world.
1. Chapter 1: Anniversary

Robin stood in the ballroom with a champagne glass made of pure diamond, he was dressed in a deep purple doublet made of pure silk which cost more than some homes, he should be happy. But it was the first anniversary of his wedding to Queen Ruth, so how could he possibly be happy?

He had heard the rumours of course, everyone had, before he was married to her: she was rumoured to be the daughter of a fairy and a king, to have once been the kindest purest soul, that there had once been two princes not just Prince David, that she had withstood abuse from King Robert and was finally free when he died, that she was heartless to all even to her only child. He had heard them but it wasn't until he took her hand in marriage that he understood how right the rumours were.

He hadn't expected the marriage to be one based on love, he wasn't stupid, he was young and expected to help produce heirs to continue Ruth's family's rule, and Robin got… well he got to be king, and if his father had his way he would be king as soon as Ruth and David died before their time.

Robin didn't want to kill them, even after David had been the one to spill about his relationship with the scullery maid Marian, even after Ruth started to hit him. Robin didn't want to kill them and he hadn't thought he'd get a choice.

But Robin hadn't been able to hate David for long, only a few weeks into his marriage he fell in love with the boy, and a week or so after that he decided no matter what he would put David first, that David was his son even if they didn't share blood. David had been one of the only sources of light in the last year, in fact in Robin's entire life.

The other source of light Robin had met on his wedding night, and it certainly wasn't Ruth. No, King Robin had been dancing with other royals, as was his duty, when he was paired with a minor royal, the daughter of Prince Henry, they had both been subtly laughing at one of the traditional dances they were expected to perform. The slipped out of the ballroom to a quieter room, neither had wanted to stay in that room with all those bloodthirsty royals. They had gotten to talking and had found that they had hit it off. Their lives were similar, they had loved one of their parents and been abused and controlled by the other, they had both tried to escape only to have their loved one killed, and Robin had a new son, David, while Regina had two boys, Henry and Roland. They hit it off on other subjects too, they both had the same sense of humour, they both wanted to do what was good for their family and for strangers, they both liked the same books and had watched the same plays. They stayed in the room talking for three hours before they were discovered. They had both agreed to lend each other support, to continue their conversations, to write to each other.

They had met at first just the two of them, but soon they would bring their sons along, Robin had never seen five year old David smile so much. And Robin had smiled more than he had in his life. At David. At Henry. At Roland. And at Regina…. He smiled a lot at Regina.

They had fallen in love.

He had been hoping to bide his time, he was waiting until the opportunity where both his father and Ruth were away from the castle, then he would run away with Regina, taking David with him. But recently Francis had been losing his patience, he had expected Robin to have an heir by now, and to have killed David. There wasn't time to wait for the opportunity. They had to run. Tonight.

Regina had already left the party, to finish packing ready to sneak away from Cora. Ruth had long left the party, she didn't like spending time around people who smiled, she didn't like joy, Robin was just happy that she hadn't decided to end the party early by killing someone. It wouldn't have been the first time. Robin had told David to pack quickly, just the things he really wanted, Robin had already prepared a bag with clothes for the both of them and some food, along with money to get the five of them far away from this land and to Arendelle.

—

* * *

"Excuse me, your highness."

Robin turned. It was a small red haired teenage boy, thin and pale, he knew he was one of his father's servants. This couldn't be good. "Yes?"

"Your- erm, Prince Francis asked me to pass on this note."

"Thank you." Robin took it and pulled the wax tab to open it.  
'_Meet myself and your Queen upon the heath. This is about your heir.'_

Robin swallowed. It was about David? What the hell was going on? Why were Ruth and Francis there together? Robin wouldn't put it past Ruth to be won over by Francis, to do away with David, he had seen how dark she had become. He would not let either of them touch his son.

—

* * *

Robin raced his horse to the nearby heath where Robin had met Francis many times. It was dark and damp but the stars and the moon shone above head, a little bit of light to guide him on his way, as his mother would have said. The figure of Francis was clear despite the dark thanks to a glowing deep purple flame floating in the air.

Ruth was there, he shouldn't be surprised that Francis was telling the truth he was a bastard but he didn't often lie, at least not to Robin, but he was surprised to see Ruth smiling.

Robin glanced from smiling Ruth to his father nervously. "What is this?"

"Well, our Queen has news for you, but first I have to talk to you, my son."

Shit, did they know he was going to snatch David and run?

"My loyal, faithful, obedient son." Francis was smiling but it wasn't friendly, it was a sneer.

He was mad, super mad, this wasn't good, Robin would have to think on his feet.

Francis waved his hand and suddenly an invisible sparkling pair of handcuffs encircled Ruth's hand. She stopped smiling but there was a magical patch appeared on her mouth to stop her from saying anything. Francis could use magic, thought normally he preferred to inflict pain with his own hands: up close and personal.

"Father-."

"No." Francis growled. "You were tasked with killing the queen, and the brat."

Robin could see anger in Ruth's eyes. "I was… I was waiting to produce an heir." He lied.

"Congratulations, my son, you've produced one." He looked almost regretfully at Ruth.

"W-What?!"

"It doesn't matter anymore." Francis sighed. "You disappointed me. I know of your plan, with the brat and with that, that common -"

A sudden fire of bravery alit inside his heart. "Do _not_ talk about David or Regina like that. They are better, _kinder_, people than you will _ever _be."

Francis' face scrunched up. He looked at his son as though he was a particularly unpleasant type of unidentifiable algae. "Why on earth would I ever want to be kind?"

Robin's stomach turned. When he was a child he had hoped his father was secretly kind, that he was wearing a mask of evil for some reason, later he had hoped he would turn good. Now Robin knew that he genuinely didn't understand being nice or kind or good.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"You? I think you mean what am I going to do to this entire _kingdom._ Someone close to you helped me prepare something special. You disappoint me Robin. This was all going to be ours, _power_ was finally within our grasp, nearly." He sighed again, a heavy genuinely disappointed sigh. "Anyway, let us try again, in a new kingdom. It will require a sacrifice though. Only this time, you _will_ do as you are told."

Robin steeled himself. "Father-."

Francis drew a shining dagger from his belt.

With one flick of the wrist the dagger went flying, cutting Ruth's throat before imbedding itself in a tree with a flunk.

Robin hadn't loved Ruth, he hadn't even liked her, hell he hated her but as he watched the blood spurt out of her throat in forced silence thanks to Francis' magic, Robin let out a yelp of protest. But he couldn't move for fear of it being done to him too, and he would leave David defenceless. "B-But she meant nothing to you! She wasn't a sacrifice-!"

"I wasn't lying about your child. That's the sacrifice I am making."

"You're deranged!" But as he spoke Ruth's blood rolled through the dirt into a dip in the ground Robin was only just noticing…. It was bubbling as though it was being boiled.

Green fog rose from the sordid ground thick and fast, engulfing them and spreading quickly across the entire kingdom.

"What the fu-."

—

* * *

When the fog faded all the people had gone.

—

* * *

—

* * *

—

* * *

There was a weird bell ringing.

No.

It was his alarm clock buzzing.

Robin groaned. He needed a holiday, a vacation as it was called in this realm, _realm?_ He meant country, of course. He pushed himself to sit up in his bed, everything was in its usual place but it felt strange, he felt strange, he had had the strangest dream… his father… David… nope, it was gone.

He scrubbed his hand over his face and forced himself out of his bed.

He went about his usual morning routine; he showered, trimmed his beard so it was fashionably short yet present. His work 'uniform' was all pretty similar, an expensive suit in grey, navy, or black, a well fitting shirt, and a tie. He dressed and spritzed cologne before heading downstairs.

He headed to the kitchen and prepared what was sure to be the first of many coffees that day. He didn't bother to start breakfast, he'd already decided to grab food on the way to work, instead he headed into his office, he had already gotten things in order the night before but he took them out of his briefcase and flicked through some of the cases he was working on, he flicked through emails, sending quick rather curt replies to several, he was ready for work early.

That was the easy part.

He headed back upstairs, stopping before he could reach his own bedroom door, he pushed it open and walked in.

He perched on the side of the bed and flicked on the bedside lamp on. He smiled for the first time that morning when the little blonde head came out from inside the burrow of blankets on the bed.

David wasn't even awake properly yet and there was already a pout on his face and a small whine accompanying him being woken up.

"Hey there, Sunshine. It's time for school, we've gotta get going soon." He tugged the blankets down knowing if he didn't David would try and bury back down again, especially today, even if David didn't understand why.

David pushed himself to sit up, a mini-mirror of his step father's waking up habits, he rubbed his eyes with his fists, but instead of moving to stand up he slumped against him, hiding his face against Robin's soft cotton shirt. "Daddy I'm poorly."

Robin frowned, David never admitted to being sick, even if he was puking his guts up he would claim he was okay.

"I've gotta stay home with you."

Robin squeezed his eyes and let his head drop as he realised exactly why it was David was admitting to being 'sick', he had been doing this all week but he seemed okay. He pressed a kiss onto the top of his blonde slightly curled hair, David looked at him with those beautiful blue puppy dog eyes. He pretended to feel for his temperature quickly, he was a little warm but that was due to being wrapped up to his forehead in layers of duvet and blankets for the past ten hours.  
"Hmm, you don't seem to have temperature, do I need to take you to see the doctor."

"No!" David pulled a face. He didn't like doctors clinics and hospitals, they smelt weird and he didn't like Robin having to say some things quietly to David's doctor, he didn't like not knowing if Robin was about to disappear. "I just need to stay with you."

"Davey, you've got to go to school, it's the law. If you still feel poorly at the weekend I'll take you to get checked over and I'll stay home with you next week." He promised.

"It's not fair." David crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"I know." Robin soothed. He stood up off his bed and picked him up under his arms placing him down so he was forced to stand up and start getting ready. "Go the loo mate, I'll get your school uniform out, we really need to get a move on or we'll both be late." He rolled his eyes as the little boy made his way out of his room, deliberately making his footsteps as loud as possible without outright stamping.

Robin grabbed David's uniform, he went to local the public school, Storybrooke Elementary but they still wore school uniforms, it reminded Robin of his own primary education back in England, he'd hated wearing them too.

He grabbed what David needed and laid it all on his bed, quickly making his bed as he did so, their housekeeper would be coming today to put new bedding on but Robin liked the house to look at least a little neat before she got there. He had gotten that from his mother.

—

* * *

Robin went downstairs and grabbed the food he had gotten ready the night before and packed it into David's lunchbox, then he went hunting for the signed forms for David's field trip, and the cheque for his after school care for the next month, and for David's homework and reading books, he never understood how the kid somehow managed to lose everything even if Robin did his best to put them safe.

David came down the stairs still pouting, Robin knew he didn't realise that it was actually just adorable not in a 'win them over' sort of way. It didn't work on Robin. It really, really, really didn't.

"C'mere mate." He crouched down and straightened up his polo shirt collar so it was straight and the buttons were done up. He quickly switched which feet David's shoes were on. He grabbed David's brush to try and tame his wild hair at least a little. "Perfect." David's face showed it was anything but. "C'mon Davey, kindergarten isn't that bad."

"I wanna stay with you."

Robin nearly broke hearing how sad he sounded. "I know, I would love to spend the day with you too. But you know what daddy does for his job, right?"

"You make sure people don't get in trouble?"

"Well," fuck, "kind of, I help people who don't have anyone else to help them, I make sure they don't get in trouble for things they didn't do."

He also, sometimes helped people who did do it, though legally he never asked it was just easier that way, and sometimes he helped people who did have other people but also had money and could pay him so he could afford to help those who needed it most. But that was a little complicated to explain to a five year old.

"Do you understand why I need to go to work today?" He still felt bad. David nodded and he felt worse because he knew he couldn't win. "Good boy. Let's get some breakfast, yeah? We can go to Granny's cafe."

—

* * *

David had cheered up enough by the time they were seated in Granny's that Robin wasn't double guessing pulling a sickie.

Robin drank tea and ate eggs and toast, while he had treated David to waffles.

"Remember to drink your milk." He nudged the glass closer to him. "It'll help you grow up big and strong."

"Did you?"

"Of course! It's how I'm so tall and strong!" He showed off his muscles, pulling a funny face to make David giggle. He felt surprisingly flattered when David drank his milk despite the laughter.

Robin heard someone clearing their voice and ice ran down his spine, he found himself clutching the cutlery as he turned around. Francis. He didn't look happy.  
"Father. It's good to see you. You're looking well." He didn't look unwell but he definitely looked angry, but Robin couldn't begin to think why.  
He also was surprised to see him stood in line to get coffee here- his large house was between Storybrooke and his offices in the city, the opposite direction. Why would he need to get coffee here when he could get some from a million other places?

"Hello Grandad Francis." David greeted politely.

Robin looked at his son how he often did, with pride, but he couldn't help but wish that Francis was a few hundred miles away from the two of them.

"David." Francis greeted curtly. He looked at Robin and David curiously. His jaw clenched in thinly veiled and unreasonable rage. "What a nice stepfather - stepson outing."

Robin didn't have to look at David to know that upset him, hell it upset Robin too. He had been in David's life since for nearly three years half of David's life, and had been David's only parent for the past two years - he was the only one who could claim to be David's father, he wasn't a step anything.  
"Father, it was nice bumping into you, but I must take David to work, I have cases to examine at work." He smiled but it was as cold as Francis'.

"Ah yes, of cause. Perhaps lunch then?"

"I'm sorry, I have a business lunch. Perhaps another time?" He was not about to give a date for when, not if he could help it.

"I will hold you to that. I hope you behave at school today David." He stood for thirty seconds before his name was called. "That's me." He nodded a goodbye and took his leave.


	2. Chapter 2: Three Meals

Francis had woken up pleased with his new cursed life, he was a powerful business man, a CEO of something he didn't necessarily understand or care about, and a CEO of the newspaper '_In Hyperion Heights_', he had the power he craved, he was the most powerful man in the entire city of Hyperion Heights, and the most powerful man in the large town of Storybrooke. But _that_ was the problem, he was the most powerful _man _in the land, the most powerful woman was the mayor of Storybrooke, none other than his sons mistress, Regina. She stood in the way of his complete power _again_. Not only that but if she existed it was only a matter of time before Robin found her.

Then there was the problem of David, well he was less of a problem in this land, but Francis didn't like that the prince had won Robin over before, that a five year old had bested him. And now he was living with Robin happily. Francis would look into that.

The curse had been almost perfect, in fact most people would have been very happy with it, but it fell short in Francis' expectations. So he had called upon the Blue fairy, in the Enchanted Forest she had been the fraternal twin of Ruth's mother, part of the reason why the Queen could use magic, but here thanks to her youthful looks she was called Liviana and was Ruth's sister. And she was apparently one of his cohort, she had helped him in his cursed past, and in his uncurled past, if anyone were to remember their real past it would be her : the woman who had helped orchestrate it all.

"Francis." Liviana smiled in greeting.

"Blue." He tested.

"Pardon?"

Huh. Apparently not. This might make this harder.  
"I said hello. Thank you for joining me for lunch today, Liviana."

"I was surprised that you called, I suppose it has been long enough since my _sister_'s demise that our meeting will be inconspicuous. How are you keeping?" She took a seat on the other side of Francis' desk. There was already takeout salads for the two of them and they began to eat.

"Well, I would be a lot better if… You see, Ms Nolan I am a very ambitious and very successful man, I get results and I get what I want. Some would call me a control freak, but that's not strictly true, I don't think, you see I want power. I was meant to be the most powerful person in all of Storybrooke and Hyperion."

"But you're not." She finished for him, smiling sweetly. "You are the most powerful man for certain, but the most powerful person in Storybrooke must be Mayor Mills, surely?"

Francis' eyes narrowed. "Hmm. I think we should work to change that, you will of course receive something in return, whatever you want."

"Then it seems that we have a deal."

"There is something else." Francis added. "I am not sure I like my son's current living arrangements, his stepson… I have heard rumours about David's parentage."

Liviana smiled slowly. She was impressed with how subtle Francis was being she didn't realise he had the ability to control himself, she was also impressed with how quickly he was adapting to this new strange land, but that didn't mean that the fairy was going to show her own hand just yet.

— —

* * *

_Two months into Their Royal Highnesses, Queen Ruth and King Robin's, marriage._

"Come here, squirt." Robin crouched down, David was only four but was fairly competent at dressing himself, still Robin wanted to make a good impression today. So he straightened up David's tunic, it was only when David was ready and Robin straightened again that he realised they were both dressed in the same colour emerald.

"Where are we going daddy? Are we going somewhere with my mother?"

Robin had hated him calling him that at first. He had protested it only two months previous, but David was relentless, and Robin had found himself softening, even loving him. Not that he'd admit that to anyone… well, nearly anyone.  
"We are going to see a friend of mine. Her name is Regina and she has two sons one is twelve and the other is nine, I thought you might like to be friends with them. Your mother is going to stay here."

"Oh." David fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't have friends, they were all scared of his mother or were just mean, and they weren't the only ones who was scared of Ruth.

Robin paused and crouched down again. He gently took hold of his step son's hands in his own. "David, we're going to have fun today but it has to be a secret, okay?"

"Okay. Will… will my mother know? She doesn't like me… she says princes' can't have fun."

Robin hated that, it was the same mentality his own father had for all of Robin's life, his mother had taught Robin how to keep having fun a secret. Still if Ruth didn't approve it would work to Robin's advantage.  
"It will be just between us. Okay? No telling your mother or my father."

"Okay." David shrugged. "Can I ride a horse on my own?"

"Sure." Robin smirked.

"Really!"

"When you're eight."

Robin had managed to convince David's nanny and his own guards that David and Robin would both be safe and that they would be back in a few hours.

As they rode Robin's stomach turned, he knew they weren't being followed, he knew that Regina and the boys would be able to get away, but he was worried about what would happened if David didn't get along with them. He wasn't his son, not really, but he was slowly becoming important to Robin, as were Regina and her boys, he didn't want to be torn between the two because he didn't know who he would pick.

They reached the meadow near to a beautiful lake, Regina and the boys were already there, along with a picnic set out. Robin jumped down and lifted David down. He saw Regina smiling easily at him and he was powerless to avoid smiling back. He felt his heart flutter.

David looped his arm around Robin's leg and stuck himself against his leg.

Robin stopped walking. He placed his hand upon David's head to get him to look at him. "C'mere squirt." He scooped him up into his arms. "David this is my friend, Regina."

Regina had meant to curtsy, but David was just a little boy, and he was scared to meet them, she found her maternal instincts flare. Instead she smiled kindly at him. "Hello David, it's very nice to meet you, your step father has been telling me all about you."

"R-Really?" His head tilted to the side, in his surprise he had lost his fear.

"Oh yes. He told me that you were sick a couple of months ago, and that he read you stories about King Arthur. He told me that you like drawing. My sons Henry and Roland enjoy drawing too."

Before Robin knew it David had come out of his shell, he was running around with Regina's sons, he seemed so carefree and normal, Robin found himself to feel the same way.

"Tig." Robin's eyes went wide when David ran past hitting his leg with his hand and ran away. "Davey, I'm not playing!"

"I think you are now!" Regina laughed as the three boys sped away.

"Oh really?" He raised one of his brows before running towards her. She tried to run but he caught her in his arms, spinning her around, both of them laughed contagiously.

Robin set her back onto her feet. They were face to face. A breath away.

Regina nudged his nose with her own, he moved his head down, they kissed. His lips were softer than she had thought they'd be, they were warmer too. He moved his head back and she cupped his wind bitten cheeks with her hands pulling him back down. They kissed again, deeper this time, a way she had not kissed anyone in years.

When they finally pulled apart they felt their hearts beating in sync.

They were in trouble now.

— —

* * *

Robin reached David's school later than he usually did, he immediately felt bad, he had meant to get their early, but his 'meeting' at lunch had been with his girlfriend Regina, and it had overrun which had thrown off his entire day.

He reached the table David was sat at by himself. "Hey David." He didn't get a response. He crouched down and placed his hand on his son's back. "Hey Sunshine," he whispered, "I know I'm late, I'm sorry, I know I said I'd be early."

"You said as soon as I got here."

"I know." His voice was still low and soothing. "I'm sorry that you had to come to after school club, I'm really really sorry I'm late. Work was very busy."

David gave a small sigh but nodded.

Robin felt bad. He kissed his son's forehead. He looked back at what David had been doing, he wasn't surprised to see a piece of paper with a drawing on it, the five year old loved drawing. "Whoah! Did you draw this?"

"Yeah."

"No way! I thought an older kid must have drawn it, that's so good buddy!" He knew from David's smile that he forgave him. "Have you been playing with the other kids or just been drawing?" There were several other children David's age running around, playing some game, but David was sat quiet and sad looking.

"Just drawin'. It's me and you and Gina and Henry and Rolo." He pointed to each of them in turn.

Robin smiled and kissed the top of his head.  
He was so relieved that David got along with Robin's girlfriend and the boys, they were still careful the relationship wasn't new per say, but all the boys had suffered losses, David had lost both Robert and Ruth and was only five. Robin didn't want to hurt him. He wondered if perhaps he and Regina should talk about moving forward with their relationship. But that risked bringing their relationship to the attention of Robin's father and Regina's mother.  
"That's very good. We should put it on the fridge, we can show Regina and the boys next time we see them, yeah?"

"Today?"

Robin's heart fell. "Not today, we're going to go and see your mummy." He watched his son's shoulders slump, his relationship with Ruth had been complicated, even now she was gone. "Let's get your stuff buddy."

The cemetery always seemed to be cold no matter the weather in the rest of town, it was two years since Ruth died but Robin felt as though it was yesterday, he still remembered feeling free as he watched the coffin being slowly lowered into the dirt. He remembered David being stuck as close to him as humanly possible, he had wondered if David also felt free, Ruth had come to hurt him just as much, Robin had hoped that in the past two years those memories would fade but David seemed to remember them as clearly as Robin did.

He wasn't sure why he still visited the cemetery, he hadn't loved Ruth, when he found out that Ruth had hurt David Robin hated her, maybe he did it for David, to get him to understand loss, or maybe it was because Robin hadn't just lost Ruth that night.

Robin plucked two flowers from the bouquet of white chrysanthemums. "Do you want to put these flowers in the vases?" He asked David.

David shrugged his shoulders. Truthfully he didn't want to be there. He just wanted to go home and to be cuddled by his dad until bedtime. He took the flowers though, and carefully place one in the metal vase on the left and the other on the metal vase on the right. He looked at his dad hoping he was going to say they had to go, but Robin was staring at the grave, there were tears in his eyes.

David thought about taking hold of his hand or hugging him, but he remembered hearing Francis point out that David was _only_ Robin's stepson that morning, David knew that Robin was looking at the words on the grave which said 'John William Hood', it was the name given the baby who was in his mommy's tummy when she died, the name of Robin's _real_ son.

So David didn't comfort Robin, instead he wandered a few graves down, he took long strides over the widths of the graves, Robin always told him not to stand on them but David didn't understand why: he couldn't hurt the people they were deep down in the graves. He reached a dark grey slab proclaiming to be the resting place of '_Robert Jedediah David Nolan_', there were some dead flowers in the vases, David didn't know who they were from because he and Robin never put any in. David had some memories of Robert but the same way he remembered monsters in nightmares, he remembered trying to make him happy but he could never do it. He had smelt like 'dad drinks' and got angry quickly, he shouted a lot about god so David thought he must have been very happy when he got to move to live in heaven forever.

David traced the letters with his finger, reading it out slowly as he did so. "'_Day-vid No-lan'"_. He felt someone walk behind him and knew instantly that it was Robin, he felt pressure on the top of his head and the sound of Robin laying a kiss on top of his golden curls. David twisted to look up at him.

For once Robin didn't hesitate or wait for David to ask to be held, his just picked him up into his arms. David wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face in the darkness between one of those arms and Robin's neck. He cupped the back of his head. "I know sunshine. It's been a long day, huh?" He stood for a moment, in the cold and windy graveyard, darkness slowly nipping at their toes, just Robin holding David tight. "Let's get some tea, yeah? Some pizza for our dinner." He clarified, even if David knew that Robin had meant, it was habit for him to correct his English idioms.

He didn't wait for an answer, he knew he wasn't about to get one, he just carried David back to his BMW. "Davey, you're going to have to let go of me, you need to go in your car seat to ride."

"Can't we just walk?" The kindergartener whined, he didn't want his dad to put him down because that would mean trying to get him to pick him up again.

"It's too far Davey, and we can only get takeout in our car." The promise of pizza was finally enough to get him to let go

The rest of their night finally fell back into their usual routine: David hadn't been as school for long but now he was it meant he was spend about twenty minutes slowly reading to Robin, then while he was drawing and writing about the book in his homework book Robin would finish sending emails or would look over his itinerary for the next day, he'd check over David's words making sure they were spelt correctly.

Robin ran a bath for David, the boy had an artistic streak and he couldn't go a day without covering his hands or clothes with felt tips or paints. "C'mon bud." He sat down on the small stool so he could keep an eye on him and talk to him. He knew he was rumpling his suit trousers and shirt, it was one of those things his father would have cared about, but he couldn't care less. "Did you play lots today?"

"I did some drawings." David smiled playing with the bath toys they had, he pretended to be making a magic potion by pouring the water into different vial like bottles.

"Yeah I can tell that, did you get any on the paper?" Robin teased, he gently took hold of his son's hand and using body wash he scrubbed the pen off as gently as he could. "Did you make any new friends?"

David paused. He scrunched up his mouth and became suddenly very interested in his toy boat. After a minute or two of silence he looked up, meeting Robin's blue eyes with his own. "Not really…. I don't think they like me."

"Who, baby?" His voice was so soft it was barely audible.

"Everyone."

"Just let them get to know you, then they'll all adore you, trust me." He gently bumped his knuckles against his chin, giving him a sympathetic smile in support. "They'll all want to be your friend."

He had David turn around so he could wash his back. Robin hated this part. Running over nearly the entire length of David's spine stood a raised scar. It was a little over two years old. It had been the reason Robin had decided he would have to look into both gaining the custody of and abused step child and divorce. He could put up with Ruth hurting him, but finding out that she had hurt David, a toddler at the time, so severely that it scarred, that Robin rushed David to hospital for treatment, leaving Ruth home alone when someone broke in, it was a burglary gone wrong, apparently. It was then that Robin found out that Ruth had been pregnant with their son. What if she hadn't died? If he had stayed with her and David and baby John, how long would it take her to hurt his baby too?

"Daddy?"

Robin realised that David had been calling his name. "Yes?"

"I'm done washing." Robin had finished a while ago and David had turned back around not wanting him to look at his back, but Robin was lost in his head, as David's teacher often said about him.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey y'know what? I think your scar is going to turn you into Frankenstein on halloween." He cracked a smile making David laugh.

"I've gotta be taller to be Frankenstein, tall like you, maybe when I'm nine or ten."

Robin laughed, he lifted his son out of the bath and wrapped him in a big fluffy towel. "Ah good to know that's the only difference between you and Frankenstein. King Arthur or spooky stories for bedtime?"

"King Arthur." David said with absolute certainty. He loved stories about brave, good, and true kings."


	3. Chapter 3 : The Book

Henry had spotted the book first. He and his younger brother Roland had been given a few dollars each by their mother and allowed to walk from the town hall where her office was down to the corner store to get a magazine or something, she had a lot of paperwork and had not been able to get it done like she normally did, for some reason or other.

Anyway, Henry had bought a comic, a Captain America one he had read but didn't own, and a chocolate bar. Roland elected to get a Spiderman comic and a couple of Laffy Taffy sticks, as they walked Roland was talking to him about something which happened at recess with him and his friends, that was when Henry spotted it.

He wasn't sure why he spotted it, it wasn't that big or bright, and its was obviously silent, it was a book after all. But for some reason he saw it and he stopped.

"What are-" Roland started to ask but his brother walked away heading down the alley. He threw up his hands. "Mom said not to wander off!" But he followed him.

The book was quite beautiful, it wasn't bright and colourful, but it looked like books he saw in movies a brown leather bound cover and stylised gold writing. '_Once Upon a Time'_, Henry was thirteen he was too old for fairy tales, but even before opening this one, or even picking it up, he knew it was different. He picked it up off of the ground, it wasn't dirty like he would have expected with it being left in an alleyway, and when he touched it… it felt like he should never let it go. He traced the lettering with finger.

"Whoah." Roland said reaching him. He reached out and gently touched the title. And like his brother he suddenly felt different. "Can we keep it?" He asked Henry, Henry was three years older than his and generally seemed to know what to do in every circumstance, Roland would have happily kept it without any thought to where it might have come from, but Henry normally insisted on doing what was right.

This time though Henry was torn, he had been taught by his mother and his father (before his untimely demise) to do what was right, they had taught him that from the moment they had adopted him, and normally it came easy. but he was worried that if he asked around someone would take the book for themselves. For some reason that possibility scared him, it felt wrong, like it wasn't meant to happen. But he heard Daniel's voice in his head, gently reminding him…

"Let's ask in there." He nodded his head to the shop the book was leant against, the side of Gold's Antiques. The book looked pretty old, he couldn't help but hope though that the strange owner would tell them to go away. "If it's not then, well we tried."

Roland grinned. He too was hoping that they could keep it. He let his brother lead the way into the shop.

There was a clear ring as they entered the store, Roland tilted his head and spotted a shining gold bell. They took cautious steps into the store, wood creaked under the boys' feet. The place was piled high with what Roland would only have described as treasure. The jumble of jewellery, procession of paintings, and mounds of mysterious boxes looked as though it should be in the hold of a pirate ship, or in the safe someone would steal from in a heist movie.

"Hello."

Both Henry and Roland jumped out of their skin, they automatically took a step closer, ready to protect one another if need be. Their heads snapped towards the owner of the sharp Scottish accent.

The man had nearly shoulder length greying hair, there were some lines on his face, as Henry took steps closer to the counter he couldn't tell what colour his eyes were but he could tell that they were old. Very old, much older than his face, Henry felt a little uneasy, as though he was looking in a mirror or at a painting which was just a little distorted.

"Hi, I'm Roland Mills, this is my brother Henry."

Henry was surprised when Roland spoke, he hadn't realised he had been staring at the pawnbrokers face for that long.

"Ah, Mayor Mills sons. I am Mr Gold." He held out his hand to each of the boys and smiled as they somewhat uneasily shook it. "And what, exactly, brought you young men into my shop? Looking for a gift for your mother, perhaps?"

Henry shook his head slowly. He had been carrying the book tucked underneath his arm but now he brought it out, he thought about placing it on the counter for him to see, but there was something off about the man, he wouldn't put it past him to just take it. "We were walking back to our mom's office and we found this in the ally next to your shop."

Gold hadn't noticed the book in the older boy's hands until he showed it him. There was something about that book… It wasn't…. I looked familiar, but he knew for certain that he had never seen that book in this - _his_\- life. He leant over the counter, close enough that the older boy looked like he was about to step back, but he didn't. Gold didn't look at him, instead with one hand on his cane he reached across and touched the cracked gold lettering of the book with his other.

He suddenly straightened.

Henry could have sworn he saw a light ripple through the old mans eyes, he would have thought he imagined it, but it must have happened, how else would he have been able to tell he had eyes the colour of the brown fall leaves? Henry spared a look at his brother, he was looking as confused as Henry felt, they didn't seem to be in danger but they shared a look knowing they were prepared to run at a moment's notice, if need be.

Mr Gold's head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "What did you young men say your names were?"

"Roland, Roland Nicholas Mills." He held out his hand again, he looked at him with defiant bravery, and gave Gold's hand a firm and certain shake.

Henry watched the man turn his head to look at Henry then, he squinted, as though he knew Henry, as though he was trying to understand something. The man very slowly, as though trying to give himself more time, held his hand out to Henry. Henry took it, just as cautiously. "Henry Daniel Mills."

There was a beat of silence.

"It is very nice to meet you, both of you."

"So do you know whose book it is?"

Gold blinked in surprise, he had forgotten all about the book, clearly Roland hadn't. "It is mine. Well, it was, I think perhaps it's yours now."

"That doesn't make any sense." Henry blurted out.

"Of course it does, it is not my fault if you don't understand." Gold levelled him with a bemused look. "I think that book is destined to be with the two of you. It was mine, now it is the two of yours', no deals required."

"Deals?"

"Payment. No deals, no payment, every. It's a freebie."

Roland looked at Henry. This man was clearly mad. But that didn't mean they couldn't accept something from him… right?

"Erm…. Thanks." Henry said slowly. He looked at his brother, trying to make sure he wasn't about to insult Mr Gold, because he was acting strange and their mom didn't know that they had come here.

Mr Gold saw their fear and nodded his head to them. "You should go back to your mam, enjoy your comics and sweets." He turned to head to the back room again, then stopped, he turned his head to look at the boys who were nearly at the shop door. "Oh, and remember, all books have meanings… if you look hard enough."

—

—

* * *

Rumplestiltskin stood in his castle, around him were piles and piles of books and papers, some were covered in dust, others had not long been discarded. His hands shook, his skin glittering in the light which crept through the heavy velvet curtains.

"Yes, yes, ye-ye-yes, yes." He chattered circling the table like a shark. "Finally. Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally."

On the table led a brand new brown leather bound book.

He had made a deal for it, of course; a man who didn't know he was The Author, who had lost too much money playing blackjack, he dealt away the book in return for a handful of riches. Foolish, foolish man.

Still, it had gained Rumplestiltskin the book he had been searching for since he had formulated this plan.

He had seen the future, an age ago, and it had haunted his dreams. He wouldn't stop it, no, it was his only chance to get to his son. He would go to this strange world, he would find his son, he would do anything to make all these years of absence.

There had been an obstacle, this curse which the meddling prince and the fairy were putting together would leave him not knowing who he was, he would not leave it breaking to chance.

So he had hunted for the mythical book. It had been at least two life times, at least for other people, before he found it, it was the key to him remembering.

"The ink, the ink, get the ink, make the ink…" He only had a small bottle of it, but it would be enough. He dipped a paintbrush into the bottle.

The title on the book was dark but as Rumplestiltskin brushed the squid ink over the title it shone gold.

He covered it several times over, there was only a year or so to go until the curse hit, and he had to make sure that it would still work by the time he found the book.

And when he remembered who he really was he would do three things: He would rid the world of that pesky Blue Fairy, he would turn that minor prince Francis into the slug he was, and lastly, most of all, he would find his boy again.

—

—

* * *

Henry sat at the table in his mother's office papers strewn around it he frowned looking at the paper, trying to remember how they were shown in class to approach the math questions.

He had just remembered when his brother appeared at his side, the book they had found was in hand.

"Yeah?" He knew that look on his face, the eager and curious one.

"Henry, we're in this book!"

"What?"

"Look," He flicked it open to a random page, the story of Beauty and the Beast, with a twist, he prodded the picture of the princess dancing with a prince, "that's the teaching assistant for my grade, Ms French, and that man, he looks like-"

"-The librarian, the one in the city." He stuck in Henry's mind because he owned an ice cream van which he kept trying to do up, he said he was going to turn it into a book shop, which seemed both magical and ridiculous, the kind of thing which would stick in two boys minds.

"It's not just them there's loads of people, some we know." Roland flicked through the pages pointing several people they knew. "Mom and Dad are in it." Daniel had died before Roland had been a month old, but there were pictures and even videos, which Roland treasured. "We're in it too. It _says_ _our_ _names_!" He pointed at a picture in the book. A man, a woman, a little boy, and a baby, almost a perfect copy of a picture which was in their own home.

Henry stared at the picture until the ache for his father radiated in his heart. He turned a few pages.

"I'm nearly finished, I promise, I'm sorry I had lunch, I had a late lunch." Regina called over apologising to her sons. "We can get takeout, anything you two want, make sure you do your homework and we can watch a movie too."

Henry and Roland both looked at her, automatically, they both froze, they felt something stirring in the air. The way their mother looked right then, tired yet smiling, her head at that angle, the light hitting her just like that… well she looked remarkably similar to the picture on the page they had just turned to, the picture of Princess Regina, who just so happened to have sons with their names, and a dead husband who had their father's name.

"…Okay." Henry said numbly, Regina looked back down at her paperwork and he continued to stare.

Roland tugged on his brother's sleeve. "Henry!" He whispered urgently.

Henry looked down at him, he knew they felt the same way, that they had sensed some knowledge falling upon them. Henry was thirteen, his grandmother would insist he was too old to believe in magic, hell she would insist that ten year old Roland was too old too: but they hadn't grown up with Cora, they had grown up with their grandpa, and with their mom, and for the last year and a half they had Robin, who had made their mom smile without a care again, which was certainly magic in their eyes.

"Maybe we should read this book closer." He whispered back to his brother. How there was too many coincidences for this to be unrelated to their lives.

Henry was going to find out what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4: Judgements

They had been running on time that morning, Robin was over the moon, he felt refreshed after falling asleep talking to Regina. He had a case in court that day and he knew he was arguing for what was right, he was certain in his case's validity and that he was going to win. It was a good morning.

Until he woke David up.

From the moment the five year old woke her was being difficult, Robin had woke happy, but David had clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

"I'm not going to school." David whined, he pulled his covers over his head.

"Davey, come on squirt, we've been through this, you have to go to school, and I have to go to work, it's just how it is."

"You can go to work I'm staying here!"

Robin sighed, he managed to tug the covers from his hands. "You only have today and tomorrow at school, you can handle that can't you? C'mon you can't stay here by yourself."

David's hands darted down the bed, he grabbed the covers again, pulling them over himself once again. "I don't care! I'm staying here."

Robin mentally counted to three, calming his annoyance. "David you can't it is illegal, I'll be arrested and put in jail, you don't want that do you?" He heard a mumbled response. "Squirt I can't hear you with the covers over your head."

David grumbled but pulled them down. "I'll stay with Gina or Vicky then."

Robin would have been touched that David was so close to Robin's girlfriend had it not been for the fact that he was sick of having this argument every day for four days straight. "Gina has very important work too. And Vicky is at college, she'll pick you up from after school club tonight and bring you home, I think she told me something about you guys watching a movie." He tried to get him excited.

"It's not fair!"

"David, do not shout at me."

"I wanna stay home and play with my toys!"

"David if you shout again I'm going to take a star off your sticker chart." He warned him.

"I don't care!" David shouted even louder.

Robin rolled his eyes, he should have known that wouldn't work.

"I'm sick."

"_David_." Robin sighed again, he knew that David must be running out of excuses if he was relying on that, David hated being sick and would never ever admit to it.  
"If you're really sick your teacher can ring me at work and I'll come and get you and I'll take you to the clinic."

He watched David pull a face and he felt bad, David hated doctors for reasons Robin didn't quite understand, but he felt bad for scaring him with that threat. He checked his watch, they were no longer early, in fact they were well on the way to being late.

"I wanna stay with you." David was fully pouting and sniffling now. He looked up at Robin with his big blue puppy dog eyes.

Robin nearly broke, but he knew he couldn't, he was in court there was no way anyone could watch David. "C'mon sunshine, please, for me, can you get ready for school? I can help you get dressed. I miss you during the day too but this is what we have to do."

Robin ended up having to help David get dressed, in fact he practically had to dress David himself, David on the other hand had two more meltdowns and barely touched his morning cereal.

Robin tried to stay calm but he ended up snapping at him a couple of times, particularly when David started to kick the back of Robin's seat as they drove to the school.

An early bedtime was definitely needed.

He felt relieved when he finally got to school and dropped him off, David started to cry but his teacher assured him that David would be fine in a minute.

—

He was in his office, two hours later going over his argument for the case he would be presenting in an hour when he heard a small knock on his office door.

He looked up and standing in his doorway was his girlfriend, Regina. His eyes travels from her black heels up her legs to her pencil skirt, her long coat was draped over her bright red shirt, and when his eyes met her face he realised her lips matched the shirt. In her hands she held two coffees and two cardboard boxes he realised were from one of their favourite lunch places. He dropped his pen and stood up to meet her.

"Gina?" He smiled despite his confusion.

"I thought you would probably miss lunch, and I have meetings for most of the day so neither of us are going to eat, I figured we could have an early lunch." As always there wasn't a hint of question in her voice.

Robin kissed her, gently at first then a little deeper, he was aware he was in his office still, and being careful that she didn't spill the coffees. "You have a heart of gold."

"Well, don't let everyone hear, I have a reputation to maintain." She smirked.

The two settled at a table in Robin's office, they were sat close enough that their thighs pressed together, they started to dig into their salads. As they did Robin told Regina about his work day, he didn't mention his difficulties with David that morning, he didn't want to dampen the mood.

They were nearly finished and their time was nearly up when Regina told Robin about a story book her sons had found the previous day, how she was only sure that they hadn't taken it from Gold's because the pawnbroker hadn't knocked on her door demanding it back, and how the two had been reading it all night, she had even noticed Roland slipping it into his backpack for school.

"How did yesterday go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ruth's grave, and John's, how did it go?"

Her voice was soft and understanding and Robin was grateful for that. "Same as usual. It feels as though it was yesterday, or," he trailed off and felt her hand slip into his. He brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to it. "I don't know if David understands, to really, he was only a baby himself, He remembers them, well Ruth, and Robert."

"He remembers Robert?"

"Yeah, I know he was only young, but he used to talk about mummies and daddies having to be nice to each other and to their babies, and he had nightmares about 'the angry man'," Robin shrugged, "maybe they'll go as he gets older." He didn't say that he suddenly hoped that David wasn't going to take after Robert with his temperament. "He stood at Robert's grave, he barely looked at Ruth's and definitely didn't look at John's, I guess it was because his brother wasn't born yet, and his name is on Robert's grave."

"Maybe he feels left out, or jealous, you and Ruth were going to have a baby together, he was Robert's."

"I'm his dad." He shook his head slightly and bunched his face up in confusion.

"I know that." She soothed quickly. "I know that and David knows it too, but seeing that must make him feel left out."

Robin thought about how David had seemed down after Francis had pointed out that Robin was his step father not his father. "How did you get so smart?"

"I was just born this brilliant." She smirked. "Have you thought any more about adopting him?"

Shit. He had meant to do that. "…Other things came up." He admitted sheepishly. "Do you really think it would make that big a difference?"

"Do you?"

The answer was clearly a yes, it would mean that he wouldn't have to explain his relationship to David and that Robert and Ruth were dead so often, he was already David's legal guardian, technically it was more of a long term fostering situation, but he had thought of David as his son for nearly as long as he had known him. "Yes." He agreed finally.

"Then do it." She kissed him. "For both of your sakes."

—

Robin was certain in his case, sure he was against George Spencer who was known for his impeccable win record, but Robin had one of those too and unlike George he didn't simply pick the cases he was certain he would win.

George was prosecuting Robin's client who in Robin's eyes had been desperate and had sought shelter and food during a storm in what she believed to be a summer house, in George's eyes Gilda Barrie had broken into a cottage, stolen a three course meal's worth of food, watched television, then passed out in a house of a young couple, mentally scarring their young chid when they returned home. George had also tagged on plenty of B.S charges which weren't even slightly true and Robin found himself having to waste time protesting the lack of evidence.

Robin would be lying if he felt himself growing angry, for once, at his opposition - it would be one thing if D.A Spencer didn't have empathy for Gilda, in fact Robin might understand that, but George didn't have sympathy for the Browns, the family who owned the house. Spencer just wanted to win and to send Gilda to jail for as long as possible.

"Your honour," Robin protested in his summary, "my client, Ms Barrie has no criminal record, which is an impressive feat growing up in situations such as she did, either in neglectful or abusive and unstable homes, or on the street. She not only admits that she committed the crime but she is truly remorseful, even the Brown family have agreed this when they received a letter of apology from her. My client was desperate and homeless, there was a storm which would have put her health in danger and in her fear she broke into the house, she did so in a way which was not aggressive nor did she at any point use a weapon nor did she resist arrest when she realised her mistake. Your honour my client is trying to change her life around, she is currently living in a halfway house, she is holding down a steady job and volunteering in Storybrooke at the animal shelter where she is already a model employee. She had attained her GED and is hoping on attending college next fall, once she has saved up more money. Your honour my client has been dealt a bad hand in life, but she is trying her best, I truly believe that she will become a model citizen and will greatly improve our community, if we only give her a chance. A criminal record or jail time will destroy her chances of better herself, and will affect her chances of college or getting a job. Please your honour, I ask you today to give Gilda Barrie the second chance that she never even dreamed she would have in life."

They paused for a brief time, in fact Robin only had time to buy himself and Gilda a coffee before they were called back into court to hear the judges permission.

Robin watched the joy on Gilda's face when the Judge ruled for community service and took into account the volunteering she had already done for the animal shelter, which she had already fulfilled. She was a free woman. Robin saw that she had never expected to be given another chance. The judge had agreed that one day Gilda would become an amazing woman, if shown kindness today.

Robin chuckled as she pulled him into a hug. It was days like this that made the long hours worth it.

"Thank you so much Mr Hood."

"Like I said call me Robin. And you did all this, not me, just keep it up, yeah?"

She nodded her head eagerly. "You should come the animal shelter soon, you have a son right? I can give you a tour, we have activities going on for halloween all next week, you should both come!"

Robin was about to turn it down, he knew if they went there David would turn on the puppy dog eyes and Robin would end up letting him get a bloody emu or something, but then he thought for a second. David would really enjoy it. "That sounds great, I might have to take you up on that."

—

* * *

**9 months into marriage: **

Robin couldn't stop smiling as he walked around the castle, it was the only sign that his two week 'diplomatic mission' wasn't necessarily above board, it was the only sign he had actually spent the week in a cottage with just Regina.

They were careful not to mark each other, despite wanting to, wanting to show everyone that they belonged to each other. In the throws of passion they nearly marked each other, it was the fear of Francis and Ruth finding out, that Cora would find out, they would force them apart, they would take away their love and their hope.

He wondered, if perhaps people knew despite his precautions, as soon as he got back he was bombarded with the most mundane meetings for four days straight, it seemed like he was being punished.

When he finally got a spare minute he realised he hadn't seen David since he left. He frowned. Normally his son would be attached to his hip, he would often sneak into Robin's meetings and draw the people in the meetings, as well as a five year old could, he didn't care that the meetings were boring so long as he was next to Robin.

—

David had been restless and bored the minute he had watched Robin's carriage disappear out of the castle grounds. He felt his heart ache, it was a stark contrast between when his mother had to go away, in those times he felt joy and freedom, it meant he was allowed to do whatever he wanted, and it meant he and Robin got to visit Regina and Henry and Roland.

But with Robin gone he was scared.

He had tried to climb inside Robin's luggage but his new father had easily lifted him out, he had begged him to allow David to go, but Robin told him not this time, even though David promised that he would be as good as gold.

With Robin gone there was no one to excuse him from the knight training he was forced to attend. He was much younger than the other Lords and minor princes who were also in the training, he had turned five as winter had turned to spring, the other boys were ten and eleven and were both taller and stronger than him. They trained with wooden swords so heavy that they made David's hands and arms ache, and the other boys seemed to find any excuse to pummel David.

If that wasn't enough his tutor was particularly cruel and controlling, knowing that Robin wasn't about to walk in and berate the man, in fact the man had hit his knuckles multiples times for not knowing or remembering the correct words in a language which no one spoke but David was expected to have perfected by now.

In short, David was tired, so terribly tired.

He wanted Robin, he wanted his daddy, he wanted to be away from the castle and all the cruel people inside of it, he wanted to spend his time with Robin and with Regina and Henry and Roland. He wanted to no longer be a prince.

And he certainly didn't want to be a knight, he was expected to be one, but he didn't want to be a knight, he never wanted to hurt anyone or anything.

So instead of heading to his knight training he snatched food from the kitchen and packed it into a sack along with one of his drawing pads and his pencils, then he disappeared.

He had lived in the castle for all of his life, he knew all the hidden parts of it, he knew how to explore, he knew how to hide.

He stayed in the rafters from the time the sun rose until the bell in the clocktower rang midnight, he had watched the sun set and the stars appear. It was dark in the passages but he could see the stars and he knew he was not alone.

He made his way back to his tower, he had thought that without Robin there no one would notice his absence, perhaps his nanny but David thought that perhaps she preferred it when he hid, at least then she knew he was safe.  
But when he reached his bed chambers it was not empty.

His mother was there.

In the candle light he could see her dark eyes narrowed at him, her nostrils flared, and the veins stood out on the back of her ghostly white clenched hands. David was only young when his father died, but he remembered him, parts of him, he remembered this look on King Robert.

"I was told that you waylaid your responsibilities today, David. You were _supposed_ to be at your training. You are supposed to be a man now, you are no longer a baby, you have _responsibilities_ in _this _kingdom!" She noticed the sketchpad and pencils clutched in David's hands and her face turned red, her hands held so tight to the "I will not allow you to be a weak man. You _ will _be the warrior king we need to protect yourself and to not just protect the kingdom but to defeat other kingdoms, to enlarge our kingdom, so no one will be able to hurt us, _the kingdom_ again."

It might have been all the time he had spent around Robin and Regina which gave him the bravery, or made him forget that his mother wasn't like Regina, David was told he could be open and ask questions to and around Regina, he could speak his mind. He wasn't supposed to do that around his mother.

He was supposed to hide.

He forgot this.

"I don't want to be a warrior, Mother, I don't want to fight anybody. I, I want to draw, and have adventures, I want to fall in love, true love, like in da- in father's stories." He just about managed to remember his mother didn't approve of him calling Robin daddy, it wasn't right for a prince, but remembering that wasn't enough.

He felt ribbons wrap around his torso, he looked down and he could see his clothes tightening, he realised that there were invisible ribbons, they pinned his arms to his sides, there was a clatter and a thud as his pencils and his sketchpad fell to the floor.

David was span around.

The next thing he heard was the crack of a whip, he didn't feel the pain for a second, then a line of fire alit on his spine.

The next hit came.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

—

Robin finally made it up to David's chambers, after searching the dinning halls for him Robin had headed to the kitchen, to a cook name Nora who had taken a liking to Robin and David, a kind lady with fiery red hair and doughy hands, who always made them food when Robin and David would sneak out of the castle, and asked no questions when the picnic was made for three of for five instead of for two.

She had a sad expression on her face when she told Robin that the young prince was laid up in his bed. That he should see him right away. He nearly sped off but she passed him a basket of food with glass bottles of juice.

Something was wrong.

When he finally got to the top of David's tower which housed his bed chamber he found David led on his front on his bed, his teddy bear Robin had bought him was cuddled in his arms as though his life depended on it. That was the first thing Robin noticed. The next was that his back was covered in fabric dressings, they were obviously meant to be white but they were scarlet and amber in places from blood and from the weeping of an open wound which took up the length of David's back.

He wasn't alone in the chamber, his nanny was there too, a pot of tea in hand and a worried look on her face.

"What happened?" Robin gasped. He looked at the nanny as though he himself had been hurt - as though David was an extension of himself.

"I… I can not speak badly of _our_ Queen." The nanny whispered, she so wanted to, but the rumours were that the queen could hear and see everything, she wasn't sure if it was true but she wasn't about to chance it, she had her own family, and she wanted to be around the castle to try and help David.

Robin gritted his teeth. How could Ruth have done this to David? He was still a baby, for the gods sake! He had never hurt a soul, he was so gentle, and he only saw the best in people - even Ruth! And she had done this. Robin was certain she was darkened beyond even he had guessed, she was so dark there was no coming back from it, and there was no way she would allow David to be who he was.

Robin looked at David's nanny, she looked livid, he had a feeling that if it had not been for David she would have quit on the spot. "Understood." He sent her a look to tell her that he really did. He understood what had happened. What needed to be done.

He walked over to David's bed, he placed the picnic basket on his bedside table, he felt nauseous it was so much worse up close. He toed off his shoes and threw his cloak onto the end of the bed. He settled himself down onto David's bed he started to stroke David's hair, which was now a dull blonde as he hadn't been able to bathe, he was fairly certain David was awake.

Robin looked back at David nanny, her face had softened seeing Robin with David, she didn't look as though she was preparing to defend the boy. "Please will you inform my valet that I will be unable to attend meetings for the rest of the month, no matter their importance. Please have Rudolph sit in my place as my substitute for meetings of royal importance, and for the others have him… please tell her that I'm sorry."

He was sure that his relationship with Regina was a secret, his most trusted ally Rudolph knew, and he thought that perhaps David knew but he also knew to keep it quiet, after what happened with Marian. But David's nanny nodded her head and left without questions, perhaps it wasn't an as closely guarded secret as he thought it was, he's have to reexamine that.

He stared down at the boy that despite no shared blood he considered his. He kept stroking his hair until eventually David turned to look up at him. His face was as white as the sheets he slept on, and his eyes were rimmed with red the same shade at his curtains, he looked as though he had been crying for a month.

Robin's heart broke. He gently moved David so that he was now led with his head on Robin's chest, Robin couldn't touch his back so this was as best as they could cuddle. He wished he had blown off all his meetings and gone and seen David straight away. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry sunshine. I'm never leaving you again. _Ever_." He swore. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head and he felt David cuddle closer. Relief flooded his veins, David didn't hate him.

"Promise?" His voice came out as small as he was.

"I promise, sweetheart, you'll never be hurt again. Not on my watch."

He needed to form a plan, an escape plan, for him and David; before Ruth destroyed David, before she started to turn his little boy dark, or before she killed one of them.

—

* * *

9pm:

Robin knew it was late, and he was tired, but he was looking forward to spending some time with David, he had been short with him that morning, he hadn't meant to be, he hadn't said sorry before leaving him for work. David was always still up on Thursday nights when Robin got home, he went from his after school club back home with the babysitter; Vicky, and when Robin got home David would tell him about his day and they would watch a movie.

Robin chucked his keys onto the side table as he let himself into their home. He shrugged off his coat and kicked off his shoes. He expected to hear the sound of Paw Patrol or perhaps even Peppa Pig, coming from the living room, but there was the sound of the news. He reasoned that perhaps David had fallen asleep, he hadn't taken Vicky as the type of person who would enjoy the news, but looks were often deceiving. He wasted no more time and walked through the open doorway.

Fear ran like electricity up Robin's spine. The news _was_ on the television but David wasn't asleep, he was holding his beloved teddy in his arms, beside him wasn't the college student, it was Francis.

"David." He barked. He pointed towards the stairs and a stern look set upon his face. "It's past your bedtime. Go brush your teeth, get to bed, I'll tuck you in later."

"But daddy-!"

"No, David! Go to bed, now." Robin snapped, not looking away from Francis.

David got down from the couch and stomped over to the stairs, not looking at Robin as he did. "It's not fair! You just got home! You never let me do anything!"

That was all Robin needed, a five year old having a tantrum, what felt worse was that he couldn't even calm him down right then, not when he was trying to keep Francis from staying in his house any longer. "You're right, I don't, but you're stuck with me. So do as you are told."

"I hate you! I wish I had a different daddy!"

He listened to more stamping louder, angrier, heading towards the bathroom, after a minute or so the stomping trailed from the bathroom to David's bedroom.

"If that had been you I would have whipped it out of you by now. That's what's wrong with your generation, too lenient, you don't know how to make them obedient."

"You won't go near him. Don't touch him. He's my son I can raise him without your input."

"Hmm, I'm sure that's what you think." He trailed off into a mumble. He stood to his feet as a laugh fired from his mouth.

Laughter was ugly coming from his father, it was never from joy, he used laughter like a weapon. "I hear you were in court today-."

"I am most days."

"-Don't interrupt." Francis snapped. He watched his son stiffen before replacing the laughing mask he was wearing. "I found it _funny,_ that is all, that you were in court against the man who adopted David's older brother."

Robin had been about to move to throw Francis out, but those words stilled him. "David doesn't have a brother." But… he had, hadn't he? A baby who died many years before David was born, Jame-

"James." Francis said aloud, unknowingly finishing Robin's thought. "He is a lot older than David, in his twenties I believe, rumour is, well, it doesn't matter…"

"Ruth _sold_ her son?" Ruth had been cruel and uncaring, Robin knew that, but part of the reason she was like that was because James had died young.

"Well, not her, Robert. Rumour was his company had been going through dire straights, they were desperate and Robert was in need of a lawyer, George and his wife wanted a baby. So Robert gave him one of the babies he had acquired."

"_Acquired? Babies?" _Robin's eyes narrowed. "There was more than one?David's brother, James, he was adopted?"

"Well, over the years." Francis said slowly. "You have seen pictures of your _predecessor,_ Robert, and I'm sure you remember Ruth? Did you never wonder how two people with brown eyes and dark hair had a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes?"

Robin dropped down onto the couch. He had never even thought, never wondered, he had stopped thinking about Robert and Ruth the day he decided that David was _his_. "Who?"

"Pardon?"

"Who? You know everything that happens in this town, in the city, you have sources everywhere. Who are David's biological parents?"

Francis paused, he looked at his perfectly manicured fingernails, he flicked away imaginary dirt, feigning disinterest. "A Ms Landon, and a Mr Galanis. I believe they both live in the city."

Robin felt fear like he had never experienced before. "Don't tell him. Please." His voice came out broken and raw, he felt as though he was a child again, begging his father for compassion or mercy.

"Don't tell him who his mum and dad are?"

"He's _my_ son!"

Francis was as stoic as Robin was emotional. "Technically _not_. Let's do this again soon, shall we say dinner, in a fortnight?"

It wasn't a nice familiar request, it was a power play, and Robin knew it. Robin was a hell of a lawyer, he could argue his way out of a paper bag, but against his father he was still a scared, powerless, child, Francis would simply tell David the truth and would find a way to put David back there, it hadn't sounded like a legal adoption. He nodded his head.

—

Robin could still hear the front door closing and Francis' words ringing in his head.

No not just his words, Robin's phone was ringing too, he fumble for it, his phone said Regina. He picked it up. Her voice sounded alarmed, on edge, and for a moment he wondered if perhaps Francis has gone to visit her too.

"Robin?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm here. I'm, yeah."

"What happened? Are you okay? I tried calling you three times."

Robin nodded his head then remembered that she couldn't see him. "Yeah I… No." He sighed, why was he lying to her? "I just got home and David was still up but Vicky wasn't here."

"What! Is David okay? Why did she leave?"

Robin could hear the puzzlement in her voice, even if he couldn't see her face, absently he noted that it was touching that she cared about him so much. "Because David's _grandfather_ arrived and told her she could leave, that I was working late, and you know how convincing Francis can be."

Robin listened to Regina sigh over the phone. Out of habit he moved around putting David's toys into their toy box and straightening things up.

"Is David okay? Francis didn't say or do anything did he?"

"No, I mean I kind of," Robin sighed this time, he scrubbed his hand over his face, hiding his shame, "I kind of lost it at him, I shouted at him to go to bed. I told him that he was stuck with me. I think he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, you were just worried about him, you can make it up to him. He idolises you, babe, trust me he doesn't hate you." When he remained quite she spoke again. "Robin, did something else happen? You sound shaken. You can talk to me."

"I know, I just, let me just check David and tuck him in, yeah?" He stayed on the phone as he walked up the stairs. "Tell me about the rest of your day?"

As he approached David's room he could hear coughing, he let out a small sigh which was half a chuckle, David had been trying to stay off school for days at least now he was making it more convincing, maybe he'd let him stay off the next day, it was only kindergarten after all. He slowly pushed open David's door and was about to tell Regina he'd call her back in ten, when he saw David sitting up in bed, his coughing was getting worse, not only that he was making a funny noise as he gasped for breath. He didn't even notice Robin.

"David!" He sprinted the short distance to David's bed, it took him less than a millisecond to notice that David's lips were blue. He hit the speaker button on his cellphone. "Regina, call nine one one, please, it's David he, he can't breathe, his lips are all blue!"

David felt weak, he felt tired, and he couldn't breathe. He tried to gasp for breath but he couldn't get the air inside him and every time he did he would cough more. Suddenly Robin was there, he reached out for him, he was scared and tired, he wanted his dad to make it all better.

Robin pulled the five year old into his arms. "It's okay, sunshine, it's okay." He rubbed his back as he coughed. Over the phone he heard Regina telling him that an ambulance was on its way. "Try and breath slow."

"Tired." David managed to get out through a cough.

"I know, I know sweetheart, I need you to stay awake, can you do that for me? Please? I promise you're going to get better soon, there'll be a cool ambulance, and I'll be here with you the whole time. Just stay awake please, I'm sorry…" He pressed kisses onto the top of his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, David had been telling him he felt ill for the past few days, Robin hadn't even checked, he had just thought the boy had been avoiding going to school. He should have checked. He had fucked up.  
"Just stay awake for me baby, you can watch as much Paw Patrol as you like, I'm not going to leave you, just stay awake."

It didn't take long, only a lifetime, for the paramedics to arrive, Robin felt as though he was outside of his body, Regina had rung nine one one minutes earlier but listening to David's wheezing had felt like forever.

He felt out of place, confused, he didn't like not understanding why David was suddenly so ill. He watched one of the paramedics clipped something onto David's finger, and placed an oxygen mask onto his face, he kept rubbing his back trying to keep him calm even if he didn't feel calm himself.

"How long has your son had asthma?"

"Wha- he doesn't, he doesn't have asthma, he said he was sick, I thought he was just trying to get out of school, is he going to go to hospital?"

"Yes I think that will be best, the ambulance is already on its way, he was sick?"

"A couple of days, Monday, I think."

"It's okay, sometimes asthma comes on fast

"So he has asthma?"

"I think so, but a doctor will check him over when you get to hospital, they'll be able to make the official diagnosis. How about family history, any family history of asthma or conditions like it?"

"I, I don't know, his mum died a couple of years ago, he was nearly four, his father had died a couple of years before that, I'm his step father, I'm the closest family he's got. I don't know his family medical history though." He stumbled over his words.

"Okay." The paramedic nodded.

David could breathe a little easier, but he was still struggling, and he was still scared. The mask had smoke coming through through it, David was unsettled by that, but it tasted nice, and he could breathe somewhat better.

He kept hold of his dad, even as more people appeared in his bedroom, even as he was put in a moving chair and carried down the stairs but he wished he could be held properly not just holding his hand. He would normally be amazed by the ambulance, and that he was getting to ride in it, but he had things attached to him and a mask on his face and he had to sit where he was told, he couldn't cuddle Robin.

Riding in the ambulance Robin kept being assured that it wasn't his fault, that asthma came on quickly especially with colds, but Robin knew better, he had made the wrong call.


End file.
